


Believe me

by Pineapple_Woman



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: (the sophitz and sokeefe are not at the same time), Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Highschool AU, M/M, More tags to be added, Slow Burn, Sokeefe - Freeform, Tiana - Freeform, dexiana, marelihn, probably pretty cringy tbh, sophitz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineapple_Woman/pseuds/Pineapple_Woman
Summary: Keeper of the Lost Cities high school AU. Vaguely follows the plot of the books. But they’re all humans and Silveny is a horse.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *read before reading the story!!!*  
> This is vaguely going to follow the plot of the books, like I said earlier. Marelinh, Sokeefe, and Tiana are the end ships but there will be other ships besides that I didn’t mention/forgot to mention. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Happy reading!

Sophie looked at herself in the mirror, trying to determine how she felt about the uniform. No, there was nothing to determine. It was hideous. Her skirt red clashed with her shirt, which was just a slightly different color of red. Despite how much she usually didn’t care about fashion, she hated this uniform. 

Not that it mattered. Everyone would be wearing the same thing. At her old school, there were no uniforms. Everyone just wore whatever they wanted. And judged eachother for it. Maybe here, at this preppy school in the fanciest neighborhood, they wouldn’t judge her for wearing what she was told to. 

She was kidding herself. Of course they would judge her. She was the new kid, and she was awkward and not good at making friends. They would hate her, just like they had everywhere else. 

No, she wouldn’t let herself think like that. Her old therapist said she needed to get more into the habit of shutting down negative thoughts. Pretend like your sister is the one saying them. Well, that was easier said than done. For one thing, that required her to convince herself that the voice inside her head sounded like her sister. It also required her to get over herself and accept the fact that her sister had disappeared. 

“Sophie! Time to go!” Edaline, her foster mother, yelled. Sophie took one last glance in the mirror, and left her room to go downstairs. Edaline was standing in the doorway, looking perfect. She always did. The only thing that wasn’t perfect about her was the dark circles under her eyes, and even those just made her more beautiful. 

She must’ve noticed the worried look on Sophie’s face, because she said “You’re going to love Foxfire High. You know, that’s where Grady and I met.  
Maybe you’ll meet someone special there too,” she said, winking at Sophie. 

Sophie rolled her eyes. That was unlikely to happen. 

She climbed into the car, sitting in the middle seat in the back row. Edaline and Grady both sat in the front, holding hands. They both thought it was necessary to drive her to school, despite the fact that she was a high school sophomore and her new classmates probably wouldn’t think that she was very cool for letting her guardians driving her. 

Their own daughter, Jolie, had died in a fire sixteen years ago, a year before Sophie was born. Even though they never talked about her, or the fire, Sophie knew they were both still grieving the loss. 

“So this is it,” Edaline said, pulling up to the curb above the school. “We won’t embarrass you by walking you in.” 

“Thank you,” she mumbled, reaching for her backpack as she climbed out of the car. She waved to Grady and Edaline as they drove away. 

The parking lot was filled with people of all kinds- but the ones that stuck out to her was a group of five kids, sitting in a bright red convertible in the middle of the space. No one else was around them; they all seemed to want to keep their distance from them. 

Sophie could already tell they were the “popular kids” of the school. All three of the girls had their skirts hiked up as high as they could, and the boys clearly had so much hair product in that Sophie could almost smell it from where she was standing. Plus, everyone around them looked at them with some kind of awe. 

“You must be new,” A voice said, and Sophie turned around to see a boy with red hair standing there. He looked pretty geeky- he had braces and his face was smattered with freckles.

“Uh- yeah. How’d you know?”

“Everyone knows everyone here. I’m Dex.”

Dex? What kind of name was Dex? “Um, nice to meet you Dex.”

“Yeah, you too.” He looked at her, frowning for a second. “You’re Sophie.”

He knew her name, too? What kind of weird-

“Before you freak out, I should tell you how I know that. We’re actually cousins. Foster cousins, if you want to be technical. Edaline is my mom’s sister. She told me to look out for you and show you around.”

“Oh,” Sophie said, not sure what to say to that. There was an awkward silence before Sophie decided to test her theory about the red-convertible-kids. “Who are they?” She pointed to them. 

Dex snorted. “Those are the ‘it’ kids.” So she was right. “The two with the dark hair are the Vackers. Fitz is older, he’s a Junior, and Biana is our age, she’s a sophomore. Then the guy with the blonde hair is Keefe. He’s kind of a class clown, but he’s super smart, and Fitz’s best friend. He skipped a grade, so technically he’s a Junior but he’s actually only fifteen. And then the other two girls are Maruca and Stina. Maruca’s okay. She just keeps to herself. But Stina’s the worst of them all. She’s constantly trying to out-do everyone else. She’s just really mean and-” 

Sophie tuned out the rest of his rant about how awful this Stina was. She was more focused on one of the boys, Fitz. 

He was tall, and clearly worked out. His hair was just long enough, and wavy, and beautiful. He looked over at her, and she felt her heart start to flutter. She looked away, trying to focus back on Dex again. 

“Oh, and just so you know. A lot of people think that Biana and Keefe are a thing, but it’s not confirmed or anything. And Fitz doesn’t date. So don’t even bother with that.”

“Right.” She tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. “Well, I need to get to class, so-”

“I’ll walk you there!” He exclaimed, taking her hand and trying to lead her. She let him, not knowing where she was going. “What’s first?”

“Uh, Astrology.”

“Oh. I have Chemistry. That’s kind of over there. I’ll walk you.”

“Dex!” A short boy with curly brown hair stopped them. 

“Hey, Jensi,” he said, clearly trying not to groan. 

“Who’s this?” Jensi asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Sophie resisted the urge to cringe. He talked so fast it was almost hard to understand what he was saying. 

“This is Sophie. She’s new.”

“And his cousin,” Sophie added, wanting to try and make sure Jensi knew she and Dex were not a thing. 

She could already tell this school wasn’t going to be as bad as her one back in San Diego. Dex had taken her under his wing, and he knew this Jensi kid, so she’d be fine. No more eating her lunch in the nurse's office or in the bathroom stalls. 

“Oh, that’s great! I didn’t know your dad had any siblings,” he said, at Dex. He just shook his head. But then he said something. 

“He does. They just don’t have kids.”

“Oh. Wait- are you the girl that Grady and Edaline adopted?” How small of a town was this? Did everyone know that they were fostering her?

“Yeah.” She was pretty sure the word came out as nothing more than a mumble, but he must’ve heard her, because he nodded his head knowingly.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of crazy? I mean, for the last, like, ten years, they’ve been complete shut ins. Then all of a sudden, they just- take you in. It’s insane. Everyone’s shocked. That’s why they’re staring at you- they’re trying to figure out what makes you so special.” Jensi kept on talking like he was on seven pounds of sugar. Or cocaine. She wasn’t sure. “Ohhh, I know. It’s because you look like Jolie.”

Sophie froze. “I do?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve only seen her in pictures. But you definitely look a little like the pictures I’ve seen of her. Here.” He pulled out his phone and typed something in. Then he showed her the screen.

On it was a young girl- maybe thirteen. Not far from her own age. She had long, wavy, blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were a grey-green color, and super sparkly. She clearly had a lot of makeup on, but it looked good on her. And Jensi was right- she did kind of look like Sophie. If Sophie would actually put some effort into how she looked. “You’re right.”

“I know.” He smiled a lopsided grin at her.“I’m always right.”

“Oh, suuure.” She shook her head, smiling. Jensi and Dex- they seemed like the kind of people that she could get along with. That she could see herself being friends with. Down to Earth, slightly skeptical, but overall, just good, everyday people. 

She liked this school already. 

A cough behind her brought her out of her giddy thoughts. “Excuse me,” A low, attractive voice said. She whipped her head around to see who it was. 

Fitz Vacker. He was even more handsome up close. His face was clear of blemishes, a perfect mix of pale and tan, but not like he’d gotten a spray tan. It looked natural. He probably spend his summers in the Bahamas or something. 

“Are you uh-” He looked down at his phone. “Sophie Foster?”

She nodded. “Can I help you?” It came out to be harsher than she meant it to be. Jensi smirked beside her. 

“I’m Fitz Vacker.” He held out a hand for her to shake, and she took it. It was rough and callused, like he’d spent a lot of time on the monkey bars. She felt her heart rate pick up and willed her hands not to sweat. 

“I know.” Then she blushed, because how was she supposed to know? He couldn’t have expected her to know. 

He smiled at her, and she felt her heart flutter. “My dad is the chief of police here. He wanted me to tell you that the investigation about your parent’s disappearance is going well, and that if you ever need anything, he’s only a phone call away. And if you want, I could put his number in your phone.”

“Um, okay?” She said, pulling out her cracked phone. She was suddenly self conscious about the old model. She’d never cared before. He took it from her, typing into it at a rapid pace. He handed it back to her a second later. 

“I put my number in there too, just in case. Don’t hesitate to reach out. Grady and Edaline are old friends of ours. Maybe you all should come over for dinner some time.”

“Uh- I’ll ask. They seem like they keep to themselves a lot.”

“They do. But you should ask. I have a little sister that’s your age. Maybe you guys could be friends.” Sophie bit her lip, not sure what to say. “Hey! BIANA!” He shouted, and half the heads in the room turned their way. Biana came over to them, and rested her hands on her hips.

She was also even more beautiful in person, and not in an artificial way like Sophie had expected. She had long, dark hair that framed her face perfectly, and sparkly blue eyes that bordered on green, and her face was just the right amount of makeup to make it look natural, and Sophie found herself questioning if she even was wearing makeup. 

That didn’t take away from the fact that she looked like your typical High School Mean Girl. “Hey,” Biana said. Her voice was full of snark. 

“Biana, this is Sophie. She’s new here, in your grade.”

“Oh, you’re that girl whose parents were so crazy they just up and left, right? And now you live with Grady and Edaline.”

Sophie felt her face turn bright red. “Yeah. That’s me.” 

“Biana-” Fitz started to say something, his face turning red. 

She must’ve known what she was going to say, because she interrupted him. “What? It’s not like it’s not true. Dad was telling us about her yesterday night.” There was an awkward silence for a second. “I should get to class. Don’t want to be late, you know.”

Sophie was sure that she actually didn’t care about being late to class and was more concerned with getting away from her. “I should probably go too,” She said, reaching for her bag out of her locker. 

“Okay. See you around?” Fitz asked, flashing her a dazzling smile that made her heart flutter. Again. She cursed herself for letting it be effected by someone she had absolutely no chance with. 

“Yeah.” She nodded. He walked away, and she couldn’t help watching as he left. Dex had to bring her out of her own thoughts that were still racing from their conversation. 

“Sophie! Sophie! Earth to Sophie!” He waved a hand in front of her face. She blinked several times. 

“What?”

“You’re friends with him?”

“I’ve never talked to him before. Only his dad. When I first got here he questioned me about my family disappearing. But I didn’t know he had kids.”

“Oh,” Dex said, clearly not satisfied with her answer. 

“So are you gonna do it?” Jensi asked.

“Do what?”

“Call him. Or his dad. Or go over to their house for dinner.”

“Probably not. Unless it’s an emergency.”

“Yeah, he’s the worst.”

Sophie nodded, waved goodbye, and walked off in the other direction, trying to get away from this awkward conversation. Dex and Jensi ran up to catch up with her. “Where are you going?” They asked. 

“Astrology.”

“It’s this way,” Jensi said, motioning for her to follow them. She did as they said. 

Astrology went well. Better than she’d expected, actually. She didn’t know anyone in the class, and she sat in the back. At least Mr. Aston didn’t call on her for anything, and she was able to disappear for the most part. Halfway through the class, she put her headphones on and tuned them out, having already learned the lesson at her old school several years prior. 

In fact, most of her morning classes went without a hitch. They were all boring and didn’t talk about anything she didn’t already know, so she ended up just listening to music, but it was better than being called up to the front of the class and having to say three interesting things about herself. 

Well, let’s see. My family up and left all of a sudden in the middle of the night. I live with Grady and Edaline, who aren’t the town wackjobs, no matter how much all of you guys think so. And I like reading. 

Lunch was when things got interesting. Dex said he had a detention- for what, she didn’t know- and Jensi was nowhere to be seen, so she was left alone in a room full of kids that already knew each other and weren’t looking to make any new friends. 

That was her least favorite part about this school. Everyone was so tight knit. Everyone knew about her and how she was being fostered by Grady and Edaline. And nobody wanted to sit with her because of it. 

“Sophie!” A voice called. She swiveled around to see Jensi, sitting in a crowd of boys that were clearly not the cool ones. 

Every single one of them had greasy hair. Half of them had braces and drool on their lips. Sophie tried not to make eye contact as she sat at the end of the table, next to Jensi. 

“You’re Sophie, then?”

“Yeah.”

“I see what Dex was going on about. You are pretty.” Sophie started at the boy who’d said it. He smiled at her, and it took all of her willpower not to flinch at the amount of drool on his lips. “I’m Valin. Nice to meet you.” 

“You too.” She didn’t say anything else, staring down at her school lunch. It actually didn’t look that bad. She’d just taken whatever Dex had gotten. 

“Thanks boys, but I’ll take it from here.” Sophie looked up to see a girl with a blonde pixie cut. She smiled at Sophie. “Follow me.”

Jensi nodded at her to follow the girl. So she stood up, picked her tray up, and blindly followed the girl into the chaos of the room. 

“I’m Marella. And do not use nicknames.” 

Sophie nodded, feeling like she should salute her. “I’m Sophie.”

“I know that. Everyone’s talking about you. It’s insane you came here in the middle of the year. We don’t get many new students. Except for freshman, obviously.”

“Oh.”

“You should know- I don’t usually do girl friends. I’m not big on the drama. But if you can get Stina to hate you in less than one day, I figure you’re worth my time.”

“Stina hates me?”

“Yeah. But don’t worry. You arent missing much. She’s a total b-atch.” 

“So I’ve heard.”

Marella ignored her. “She’s not nearly as bad as Biana though. Now she is the real deal when it comes to mean girls.” She was quiet for a minute. “Her brother though. Fitz Vacker? Now he’s hot. And nice, too. From what I’ve heard. I’ve never actually had a conversation with him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“But you have. So, is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“Fitz. Is he nice?”

“Oh. Yeah. He’s nice.”

“Wait, how do you know him, again?”

“His dad is in charge of the case against my parents. And he was saying how if I ever needed to, I could reach out to him. Or his dad.”

“Wait. Did he-“ she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Give you his phone number?”

“Yeah.”

Marella’s eyes got wide. “Wow.” She took a tube of lipstick out of her purse and layered it on. When she caught Sophie looking at her, she offered her some. 

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” She put more on, and Sophie could almost smell the watermelon scent from across the table. 

After their conversation ended, Sophie took it upon herself to leave the table and search for her next class, psychology. Everyone had warned her that it was a really hard class and the teacher was super strict, but she’d taken it anyways. She was hoping it would be a good break from how easy all of her other classes had been. 

It turned out there were two people taking the class. Her, and Fitz Vacker. She wasn’t sure if she should thank her fairy godmother, or curse the devil. 

He smiled at her as she walked in, and she tried to smile back, but she was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace than anything else. 

“What’s up?” He was sitting in one of the bean bag chairs. 

There were no desks in this classroom. Instead, it was filled with various chairs, and the front of the room had a desk, covered with pictures of a kid, and a smart board. She couldn’t hide. 

“Nothing. You?” She was sure that it was the most dull answer she could possibly give. 

“Same. How’s your first day going so far? Exciting?”

“It’s the same as every other school I’ve been to. Which is one.”

This was a lie. She’d actually never been to a school like this one. Here, the teachers were cool and didn’t call on her and let them have their phones out. The kids were preppy and all rich, but they left her alone. And really, that was all she cared about. Not the fact that half of them drove bright red, name brand cars and had their uniforms perfectly tailored to fit them. 

He gave her a sort of half smile. “Is that good?”

“I guess so.” The bell rang, stopping an awkward silence. “Which grade are you in, again?”

She knew. She just wanted to make conversation. 

“I’m a junior. Actually, that reminds me, you’re really taking psychology? It’s supposed to be really hard, you know.”

“Yeah. But all of my other classes are easy, so I think it’ll balance out.”

“Hmm.”

The door banged open, and in stormed a tall, tan skinned man. He was carrying so many books she wasn’t sure how he was surviving. 

“Is this my whole class, or is everyone running extremely late?”

“It’s everyone, sir,” Fitz said, his voice slightly trembling. Sophie wasn’t sure why. Mr. Tiergan did not look like he could hurt anyone. His face was covered in wrinkles, and he was tall and scrawny. He reminded her a little bit of her dad. 

“Don’t call me sir. Tiergan is fine.” He turned around. “Wait. Fitz Vacker?” Fitz nodded. “Yeah, you should call me sir.” 

Did they not like each other? Fitz nodded, and the two glared at each other while Sophie sat there awkwardly. 

“Okay. Let’s get started. First, we have to have the rules chat.”


	2. The Great Cape Destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! I don't have a beta or anyone reading this before you guys, so if you notice anything that I should change, let me know because right now it's only Grammarly. So, here's chapter two, hope you enjoy!

Grady was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee when she got home. 

“Hey,” she said, hanging her backpack up on one of the hooks in the corner. 

“Hey, kiddo. How was your day?”

“Fine.”

“That bad, huh?” She shrugged, and he moved his newspaper over as a signal for her to sit down. “What happened?”

“Nothing, it was fine. Different from my old school. Psychology was the only fun class.”

“Yeah, I remember taking psychology. It is fun, isn’t it?”

“It’s alright. Tiergan is weird.”

Grady frowned. “Did he mention his son?”

“No, he didn’t. But there was a picture of him on his desk. Why?”

“No reason.”

“No, really, why?”

Grady sighed. “I probably shouldn’t tell you. It’s a long story that you shouldn’t concern yourself with.”

“I don’t have much homework. And it’s not like I’ve got many friends that are about to come over.”

“Fine. But I’m not telling the whole story. It’s technically classified, so you have to promise not to tell any of your friends.”

“I just said that I don’t have any friends.”

“What about Dex?”

“Oh. Fine. Dex, Jensi, and Marella. That’s it though.”

“Right. Don’t tell them. Although I’d be surprised if they didn’t already know.”

“Okay. Fine.”

“It isn’t a smart idea. I need to keep working anyway. Why don’t you go help Edaline with dinner?”

Sophie frowned. “Please?”

“No.”

She sighed. Grady was always using his work as an excuse. She wasn’t even sure what he did. Every time she asked him what he was doing and he answered working, he would only be reading a newspaper or drinking coffee or reading a book. Either he had an unusual job, or he was hiding something

“Grady Ruewen?” Marella gaped at her. “He doesn’t have a job. Hasn’t since Jolie died.”

“No, he has one. He’s always saying he’s working.”

Marella shrugged. “He must be lying. Trust me, I know everything about everyone. And Grady and Edaline Ruewen haven’t had jobs for sixteen years.”

Sophie stared at her food. Why would Grady lie to her? It wasn’t like she was about to go and spill all of their secrets to her school. She didn’t even know that many people. Even Dex had been distant recently. They only had one class together, and he’d been in detention all week. 

She did have Marella and Jensi though. The three of them had sat together every day that week, and of course, Dex would come and sit with them when he was done serving his time. At least that’s what Marella said. 

“So, what class do you have next?” Jensi asked. “And do you need help getting there?”

“Chemistry.”

“Oo, fun. Who’s your teacher?”

“Ms. Galvin?” Seriously, what was up with the names around here? What happened to all of Jones’s and the Smiths? And the Johns and Lydias? Everyone had weird names. 

“Oo, not so fun,” Marella sneered. “The counselors must be out to get you. She sucks.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Every year, the kids who take her class either flunk out or quit. Everyone hates her.”

Sophie muttered a not so nice word under her breath. 

“Wow, Soph. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Shut up.” She scowled at them and picked up her things. “I should go find the room. Seriously, this place is a maze.”

“You get used to it,” Marella shrugged, and Jensi nodded. 

“Good luck,” he said. Sophie nodded her thanks and wandered off to her doom. 

She made it to the room before anyone else. Ms. Galvin was sitting at her desk, typing furiously. She didn’t even acknowledge Sophie as she walked in. 

“Hello?” She asked. 

“Can I help you?” She glared at Sophie through her red glasses. 

“I’m here for your sixth-period class.”

“I see. Take a seat then.” Sophie did as she was told, trying to ignore Ms. Galvin’s muttering. 

I had to give me the Chemistry 1 class. Every year- all I ask is a decent class. Instead, I get this freak and her freak classmates. Well, I’ll have them do it perfectly if it’s the last thing I do.”

Sophie winced. Chemistry was not her strong suit. 

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Sophie tried to ignore the stares from Biana, Stina, and Maruca across the room. It took all of her willpower not to glare back at them. 

Ms. Galvin started talking about something, but Sophie couldn’t focus on them. She was more concerned with Biana and her girl squad than the instructions. 

That was a mistake. She understood most of it, and by following the written instructions word for word, she made it through most of it without messing it up. But the trouble can when she was finishing it. Somehow, the concoction caught on fire. Not too much, and Sophie screamed, and it knocked over. 

It spilled all over her hand and Ms. Galvin, who was standing over her watching it all go down. 

“Oh my God,” she whispered, horrified and embarrassed. She wasn’t looking, but she could feel everyone in the class staring at her. Her face turned bright red as she noticed a hole in Ms. Galvin’s dress. 

“How did this happen?” Ms. Galvin’s voice was clipped and short, clearly not concerned with Sophie’s hand, which was quickly turning bright red and welting. 

“I- I panicked. It knocked over. I’m sorry.”

“You burned my dress.”

“I know. I- I’m so sorry-“

“Save it. Go see if Elwin can help your hand. Maruca!”

Maruca stopped laughing. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Clean up Miss Foster's mess.” She turned to look at Sophie. “I trust you can find your way to Elwin's office?”

Sophie nodded, despite not knowing where his office was or who he even was to begin with. 

“Good.” She glared at Sophie until she picked up her bag and left the room, door slamming behind her. 

Not knowing where she was going, she wandered around the halls for a second, before she came upon a boy, sitting on a bench in the middle of an atrium. 

“Are you lost?” He was leaning against the bench, listening to music in one ear. The other was free. His phone lay forgotten beside him, and he looked at her like he wasn’t sure what to make of her. 

“No,” she said, carefully. 

He didn’t buy it, because he stood up. “You’re a terrible liar. I’ll ask again: are you lost?”

“No!” This time it must’ve been more believable. 

“So you’re ditching.” He smirked at her, and she resisted the urge yo roll her eyes. 

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Keefe Sencen, at your service.” He held out a hand for her to shake. She took it cautiously. This was Fitz’s best friend, and apparently, the second-most-popular guy. 

“Sophie Foster.”

“Nice to meet you, Foster.”

“Sophie Foster. Foster is my last name.”

“Yeah, I got that. Foster.” He winked at her. 

She rolled her eyes. 

“You never answered my question. Are you ditching?”

“No.” 

“So what are you doing in the junior hallway in the middle of a class period?” 

She pulled her hand out from behind her. “I burned my hand in chem and I’m supposed to be going to see Elwin.”

“You have no idea who Elwin is, do you?” She shook her head. “He’s the nurse. I’ll take you there. Can’t have a newbie like you wandering the halls, can we? You might figure out all our secrets.” He winked at her. 

She frowned. “Okay. Thanks.” He nodded and started down the hallway. 

They were walking for what felt like forever when all of a sudden she realized she didn’t know what he was doing in the middle of the hallway in the middle of a class period. 

“Hang on a second.”

“Yeah?” He turned around to face her. She hesitated before saying:

“Are you ditching?”

“Well. I figured, why show up to class when I already know what we’re learning? The teacher even has a crush on me, so it’s not like she’ll care.”

“She has a crush on you?” Sophie gaped at him. 

“Yeah, well can you blame her?” 

“Uh- that is wrong on so many levels Keefe. Do you know that she has a crush on you? For sure? You should report that. That is not okay.”

Keefe shrugged. “I mean, I don’t know for sure. She just always gives me A’s and never yells at me. Which is more than I can say about most of my other teachers.”

“You know that doesn't necessarily mean that she has a crush on you.”

Keefe scoffed. “Yeah right. Anyways. This is Elwins. I’ll walk you in and make sure you receive the best possible care. We all know you deserve it.” And again, for what felt like the millionth time, he winked at her. 

“Okay,” she said softly and opened the door. She couldn’t help but be a little scared as she opened the door. When she was little, she hated doctors. 

At five years old, she’d fallen and hit her head. She’d been rushed to the hospital by her neighbor, Mr. Forkle, where the doctors had poked and prodded her with tons of needles until they determined she just had a concussion and would be fine in a few weeks. Then, at eight, she’d had an allergic reaction to a soda she drank, and she had once again been rushed to the hospital, where she had been poked and prodded again. 

And ever since then, she dreaded every trip to the doctor, every visit to the nurse's office. A lot of times she pretended like she wasn’t sick to avoid going to the doctor, even if she was about to throw up at any minute. 

She’d had perfect attendance every day of elementary school, middle, and freshmen year. And so far of sophomore year, but it had only been five days. 

“Keefe Sencen, what brings you here? Gotten yourself into more trouble?”

“Nope. I’m here to bring Foster to the best nurse in the world.”

“Are you ditching again?”

“No. Just bringing Foster here and making sure she’s well cared for.”

“I promise she is. Now, how about I go get you a hall pass and you can be on your way.”

“Well, I think-“

“Keefe. I’m fine,” Sophie interrupted. He nodded, and grabbed the red slip out of Elwin's hand and left the room. 

“So, Sophie. What seems to be the problem?”

“I burned my hand in chemistry.”

“I see. Let me see.”

She held out her hand for him to see. He took it and winced. “You did this in chemistry? How?”

“I don’t know, I just panicked, and all of sudden-“ she motioned with her hands an explosion. He frowned. 

“Who’s your teacher?”

“Ms. Galvin.”

“Wait- you caused an explosion in Galvin’s class? Holy-“

“And?”

“Everyone hates Galvin.” So she could tell. And understand why. She was the opposite of a kind, good teacher. “Wait- did you get it on one of her dresses.”

Sophie nodded. “Yeah. She was pretty mad.”

Elwin grinned. “I’ve known you for all of ten minutes and you’re already my favorite.” Sophie grinned back. She liked this Elwin guy, despite his being a doctor. “And I’ll admit; I’d been wanting to talk to you. We try and make an effort to have a meeting with all of the incoming students to make sure they’re adjusting alright.”

Sophie frowned. Was she adjusting alright? Her family was missing. Gone. Her little sister, disappeared into the night, only ten years old and still so little and innocent. And as much as Sophie loved to fight with her, she loved her more, and just wanted her to be safe and happy and there with her. 

And her parents. Loving and supportive and better than she could ask for. They’d disappeared too. Without her. 

She’s been avoiding thinking about how much she missed them. Covering it up with piles of homework and new friends. But she missed them so much. 

So much. But she couldn’t tell Elwin that. She had to make sure they all knew how grateful she was that this school was different, that she had friends and good teachers. And that boys wanted to talk to her. That was one of the weirdest parts of it all (besides her parents disappearing, obviously). Boys, popular boys, were talking to her. Being nice to her, and treating her like a human being. 

So even if her parents were gone, and she didn’t know when or if she’d ever see them again, she had friends, and maybe that was almost as good. 

“Pretty good.”

“Pretty good?” Elwin raised an eyebrow like he didn’t quite believe her. “You know you don’t have to put on a brave face.”

“I’m not. I do like it here.”

“But…”

“I miss my family. Okay? I miss my family and I’m worried. But all things considered, it’s not that bad.”

Elwin nodded. “That’s understandable. Are you making friends okay? I know Mr. Sencen brought you here. Are you two close?”

“What? No, that was the first time I’d ever talked to him.”

“Oh. He seems to like you.”

Was Elwin seriously trying to talk to her about boys? 

“Yeah. Well, I should be going. Gotta get back to class.”

Elwin nodded and finished up wrapping her hand. She gave her thanks and picked up her bag again, wandering off into the hallway. 

Something told her she wasn’t going to be welcome back in Ms. Galvin’s room, so she walked around a little bit, deciding to try and find her way to her Psychology class. 

She was looking forward to it. Tiergan was a good teacher and Fitz was nice to her. She could pretend that she wasn’t the new kid in a strange place there. Tiergan after like she’d always been there. It was refreshing. 

“Sophie!” She turned around to see Dex running after her, lugging his overstuffed backpack after him. He stopped when he got to her and looked at her hand. “What happened?”

“Chemistry accident.”

He winced. “Ooh, what happened?”

“I don’t remember.” And she was getting tired of answering that question. 

“In Ms. Galvin’s class, too? Did she freak out?”

“Yeah. It got on her dress, so-“

“It got on her dress?” He laughed. “Did it stain?”

Sophie hesitated. “It burned a hole.”

He laughed harder. “Oh my God. You seriously burned a hole in Ms. Galvin’s cape? No joke?” Sophie nodded. “You’re insane. That’s gonna make you so popular. You have no idea.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s had her at some point, and everyone hates her. She only teaches because she has this huge crush on one of the gym teachers. But everyone knows he doesn’t like her back, even she does, and so she takes it out on her students.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” Dex nodded. “I mean, that explains a lot. She had us doing some complicated concoction thing. And I’m like, lady, you talked about it for like two minutes. And you expect us to start already?” They were both laughing. “Like, I suck at chemistry. Always have. But then she has us doing like impossible stuff and expects it to be perfect.”

Dex’s face turned serious. “I can tutor you if you want.”

“Really? Maybe I’d pass then.”   
He smiled. He had dimples. She hadn’t noticed that before. “Yeah. My dad is a pharmacist or something like that, and he’s been having me help out in his shop since I was little. I could help.”

“Okay, yeah, that would be great. Maybe you should come over sometime this weekend or next week, and we can get started.”

“Next week I think. I have to watch the triplets this weekend.”

“The triplets?”

“My little siblings. Bex, Rex, and Lex.”

“Wait, your names all rhyme?” Sophie asked, cracking up. 

“Yeah. My dad thinks he’s hilarious.” 

“Oh. My. God.” She could hardly hold her laughter in and was sure that they were disturbing the classes around them. She didn’t care though, because the fact that Dex’s names rhymed with his siblings was priceless. “Wait, do Marella and Jensi know?”

“I think so. But I hope not. It’s not my finest quality.” He tried to wink at her, but it came out looking more like a grimace, and she cringed a little at his attempt. 

“Well, I think they deserve to know.” The bell rang, and the hallway was flooded with students. But Sophie managed to spot Marella over the heads of all the other students. “Marella!” 

Marella walked over to them, her skirt swaying on her hips as she walked. She’d also dyed her hair strip of bright red-orange, and it looked great on her. “Yeah?”

“Did you know-”

Dex covered her hand, and she made a muffled attempt at a reveal. It didn’t sound like much. She finally managed to pry his hand off her mouth. 

“Dex’s sibling's names rhyme with his.”

Marella snorted. “Seriously?” Sophie nodded, and Marella fell into a bit of laughter. Dex jokingly sent her a dirty look. She smiled back at him innocently and took off into the crowd of students to make her way to Psychology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter will be up 4/20/20 :)


	3. Formal Dinners and gym class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter is up a little bit earlier than I planned because ~inspiration~ anyways, it’s also a little bit shorter, so I’m sorry about that. Hope you guys are all staying safe and healthy!

The next monday, everyone seemed to know about the Great-Dress-Destruction. Sophie suspected Keefe had something to do with it, by his smiles and winks at her whenever she saw him in the hallway. 

And Dex was right, it did make her popular. All of a sudden, everyone wanted her to sit at their table, or recount the story. They would get out of the way as her and Dex walked down the halls. 

She was determined not to take it forgranted though. She knew that one wrong move could result in her being a social outcast, just like she had at her old school. Sometimes, brave kids would come and sit at their table, and butt themselves into her and Dex and Marella and Jensi’s conversations, until Marella glared at them enough that they left. 

Her newfound fame didn’t help her relationship with Ms. Galvin, though. In fact, it made it worse. She went out of her way to make every hour she spent with her miserable, teasing and taunting her for making the mistake. Her lessons with Dex did seem to be helping, though, and it was getting harder and harder for Ms. Galvin to find fault in her work. 

“Sophie. Sophie. Sophie. Sophie. Earth to Sophie.” Jensi waved a hand in front of her face, trying to get her to pay attention to him. 

Once again, he was talking like he had eaten seven bowls of sugary cereal for breakfast. And while he was one of the nicest people she’d ever met, he was also a lot to deal with and she didn’t mind tuning him out. Every once and awhile, that was. 

“Yeah?”

“Are you ready for gym? It’s intense.”

Her stomach got queasy at the reminder of gym. At her old school, gym was her worst subject, and despite how different this school was, she was pretty sure that wasn’t about to change anytime soon. Her athletic ability was one of those things that just wasn’t. 

She snorted. “No.”

“I mean, it’s not that bad. The teachers are nice. This year you’ll have Mrs. Alexine. She’s a good teacher but she’s strict. I don’t remember the name of my teacher. But I think that he’s supposed to be good.”

“Hm,” was all she said as the neared the locker rooms. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye!” He practically skipped into his room, and Sophie couldn’t help but cringe at his enthusiasm at gym. Seriously, was there anything that made him upset? 

The locker rooms were nicer than the ones at her old school. They didn’t smell, for one thing, and there was actual ventilation, which automatically made her like them more. 

And there were dressing rooms, which was a huge relief. She wasn’t really feeling in the mood for getting dressed in front of Biana, Stina, and Maruca, who all still hated her. 

Not that she knew why. Despite their awkward first interaction, they hadn’t talked since. But Biana had still gone out of her way to glare at Sophie in the hallways, and all around attempt to make her life miserable. 

“Look who it is,” Stina said, rounding on her. “Maruca and I were just talking about you, you know.”

Maruca nodded. 

“We were talking about how we don’t think you’ll last here. Maruca was saying six months. I think she’s giving you the benefit of the doubt. I say six weeks.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, Stina,” Marella came up behind her, her hands on her hips and full of fury.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your dad got expelled after about… oh, what was it? A year? And they only let him come back to graduate.”

“You do know my father is in the city board, right?”

“Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but they won’t let him join because he doesn’t have a college degree. And he barely got passed highschool too.”

“Shut up about my father. It’s not even relevant.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Just- Augh! C’mon, Maruca. These losers aren’t worth our time.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Sophie whispered after Stina was out of earshot.

“Eh. I wanted to. I’m so tired of her walking around this place like she owns it. It was time someone put her in her place.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime, and besides, one day, you’re gonna be the one to shut her down.”

“I am?”

“Well, yeah. Everyone’s counting on it.”

“They are?”

“Yeah. I mean, you took down Ms. Galvin, and now they’re counting on you to take down Biana and her posse.”

“Oh.”

She wasn’t sure if gym could have gone any worse. It started out by her being so caught up with a conversation with Marella that she didn’t catch when her name was being called for attendance. Then, Stina and Maruca shot her dirty looks all through the class. Then they had to run laps, which didn’t end well either. 

It was a disaster. She was a disaster. 

Mrs. Alexine tried to help her, but it was no use. She was completely worthless at gym and she couldn’t help to get worse as the class went on. 

When they got out, Stina remarked, “Nevermind. I give her six days.”

And that time, nobody argued with her. Sophie couldn’t blame them. 

“Seriously, Sophie. Gym wasn’t that bad. You’re new and it’s a hard class,” Dex said, trying to cheer her up. Sophie forced a smile, instead focusing on picking her nails. “And besides, it’s in the past. Stina’s stupid. You shouldn’t pay attention to her.”

“Excuse me?” A woman said, pursuing her lips as she looked at Sophie and Dex like they were worthless. Behind her, a girl in a heavy winter coat stood. Sophie and Dex froze.

“Mrs. Heks,” Dex laughed nervously. 

“Who’s that?” Sophie whispered. 

“Stinas mom,” he whispered back. Stinas mom glared at them. 

“Where is your father?”

“In the back-“

“Go get him,” she ordered, and Dex scrambled to go get Kesler. When they were both bad, she said, “Kesler. Look what your son did to my poor daughter.” She pulled back Stinas hood to show Stina, but with a giant bald spot on her head. Sophie tried to hold back a laugh. 

“Don’t laugh,” Stina muttered.

“I expect you to get her a medicine that will speed up the growth of her hair before she goes back to school on Monday, or you’ll be hearing from our lawyers.”

“Of course,” Kesler managed, but you could tell he was on the verge of laughter too. Dex wasn’t even bothering to hold back. 

“And free of charge.”

“And why would that be?”

“Well, seeing as your son did it, it would only be expected-“

“Do you have any proof?”

“No, but-“

“It was obviously him!” Stina interrupted. “Who else has access to all of the stuff you’d need to do this?”

“Anyone taking a chemistry class. And from what I hear, you aren’t the most liked girl in school, so lots of kids would have a motive.”

Stina scowled, and pulled her hood back up. “Whatever.”

“So, you’ll pay for it, then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Dex, go get some hair growth vitamins.”

Dex smiles, and took off back into the store, and motioned for Sophie to follow him. He held up a bottle. “These will make her hair grow, but she’ll also grow a mustache,” he explained, pouring them into a smaller bottle.”

“That’s genius,” she said, grinning. “Did you do it?”

“Duh. I couldn’t let her get away with what she did to you.”

“You’re the best.”

He smiled. “I know.”

Grady wasn’t pleased with her brawl with Stina. He said something about one of the school board members wanting to make sure she was going to fit in at the school. 

“It’ll be fine.”

“Bronte can be really tough. He wants to meet with you.”

“When?”

“In an hour.” Sophie grimaced, and he nodded. “You’ll be fine. Just be yourself.”

She nodded. “Should I wear something more formal?”

“Probably. Edaline can help you get dressed.”

Edaline leaned against a doorway, looking just as perfect as she always did. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a flowery bun on the side of her hair. It looked complicated and Sophie wasn’t sure how she did it. “I have just the dress in mind. Grady, can you set the table? Alden and Fitz will be here soon.”

“Fitz is coming?”

Edaline nodded. “They thought it might be a good idea to have someone who goes to Foxfire be there with you.”

It didn’t might make sense, but Sophie nodded in agreement anyways, following Edaline up into her room. It looked like a closet had thrown up. Dresses were everywhere, necklaces had been spread out all over the bed. It was utter chaos.

“Della went shopping earlier for you. She wanted you to have a few nice dresses to wear to the dinner,” She explained, picking up a particularly sparkly one and holding it up to Sophie. 

“Who’s della? And…” She flinched. “Are there any that aren’t sparkly and floofy and…”

Edaline nodded. “Della is Fitz’s mom. And I know which one you should wear.” She went over to the corner, where there was a pile of less sparkly, less extravagant, less floffy dresses. Sophie appreciated that Edaline knew her so well as to suggest one of those instead. 

She dug up a floorlength, teal dress. It had a little bit of glitter at the bottom, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the others. Besides, if she wanted to make a good impression, it proably wouldn’t hurt to wear something nicer than what she usually wore. 

Edaline helped her get dressed, pulling up the layers of tule as Sophie climbed into the dress. She pulled back her hair into some sort of a twisty, layered bun. 

What felt like forever later, Edaline spun her around her chair to face the mirror, and she couldn’t help be surprised at her appearace. It wasn’t as dull and flat as it usually was, and Sophie couldn’t deny that Edaline had worked wonders on her slightly blemished skin. Her hair was piled on top of her head just the right amound, with no fly aways but a few strands hanging down to frame her face. The dress made her skin glow a little bit. 

“Wow,” She whispered. Edaline nodded, tears in her eyes. 

“You look so much like…” She didn’t finish her sentence, but Sophie knew what she was about to say. You look so much like Jolie.

“Sophie! Edaline! Fitz and Alden are here!” Grady yelled, and Edaline sighed. 

“Okay. Just be yourself in front of them. Oralie and Kenric should be easy to impress, especially since we set them next to eachother. Bronte’s who will be difficult. He’s convinced that you don’t deserve to go to Foxfire.”

“Why not?”

“He thinks you’re too new and unstable. Obviously you’re not, but we have no way of proving that other than this dinner party.”

Sophie could think of about fifty other ways that they could prove she wasn’t unstable other than a dinner party, but she didn’t say that. She just let Edaline lead her down the stairs, to her doom.

Fitz looked extremely handsome, and her heart fluttered the second he looked at her and smiled. She gave him a small grimace as she struggled not to trip down the stairs in her tall heels. 

“Want me to go get you a pair of flats?” Edaline whispered in her ear as she almost tripped over again. Sophie nodded, accepting her defeat against them. 

“Hey,” Fitz said when she’d finally reached the bottom of the stairs. “You look nice.”

She smiled, willing her palms not to sweat and her heart not to flutter, again, at the compliment. “Thanks. You too.”

He gave her a half smile, and then got out of the way as Alden made their way over to him. 

This was the first time she’d seen them side by side, and it only then occurred to her how alike they looked. Their hair was dark and a little curly, and their skin was the same color of a light tan. Their eyes were the same bright blue, bordering on green color. Practically their only difference was Alden’s forehead had worry wrinkles and laugh lines by his eyes. 

And Fitz was more athletic looking. It was clear Alden had a desk job. 

“Sophie,” he said, offering a hand for her to shake. “How have you been?”

“Fine. Still adjusting, you know.”

“Yes, that’s understandable. But you’re enjoying your time?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” A beat passed, and the three of them stood there for a second before Edaline came racing back down the stairs, a pair of white flats in her hand. 

“They’re not here yet, are they?” She was completely out of breath. Alden shook his head. “Good. I hope these fit Sophie, they were the only ones you had besides heels and converse. I’ll get you some more later but-“

“Thanks,” Sophie said, cutting her off and taking the shoes. She slipped them onto her feet and put the stilettos in the coat closet just before there was a knock on the door.

“That must be them,” Alden said, making his way over to the door.

“Can you get it? I need to go make sure Grady hasn’t burned the rolls.”

“Of course.”

The door swung open for Sophie to see a group of three adults. All three were dressed for some kind of gala, but then again, so was Sophie, so she couldn’t judge. 

There was only one woman, and she was holding hands with the nicer looking guy. The two looked friendly and nice, and they were clearly a couple. They smiled at Sophie as Alden let them in. 

The other guy Sophie guessed was Bronte. He had short, clipped hair that he had obviously tried to comb down, but hadn’t succeeded. And he was ancient. His face was covered with wrinkles, and he had a permanent frown on his face. 

“Hello,” Sophie managed to squeak. 

“Hello,” the nicer looking man said. “You must be Sophie. My name is Kenric, and this is my wife, Oralie, and our coworker, Bronte.”

Oralie smiled at her sympathetically, and Bronte gave her a sort of grimace. This was going to be an interesting night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update: April 22, 2020


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of Fitz in it. And a lot of different events. They’re not in the order they happen in the book.

The dinner started off smoothly. They made polite conversation, Oralie and Kenric cuddled the whole time (it was sweet, but Sophie was trying to eat and could they please give it a rest for a second?) Bronte ate in silence, and was clearly studying her and trying to determine if she determined to go to their school. 

“So, the part we’ve all been dreading,” Kenric said, clearing his throat. He gave her a small smile. “The interview.”

“I’ll start.” Bronte spoke for the first time. “Miss Foster, on average, what kind of grades did you get at your old school?”

“We have her transcript here-“

“Oh, I know. I just want to know what she thinks.”

“Um, I got mostly A’s. I think I might’ve gotten a B, but that was in math, and it’s weighted because I’m a year ahead, so really I got an A. I think.”

Bronte pursed his lips. “That’s What I have too. Extracurriculars?”

“I was on the chess team and in the fall musical.”

“Anything else?” Sophie shook her head. “What about hobbies?”

To tell the truth, her main hobby at home was reading and playing with her cat, but something told her that Bronte didn’t want her to say that, so she extended the truth a little bit.

“I liked cooking with my mom-“ really, her mom made her add spices while she cooked. Not exactly gourmet cooking. “I went for jogs with my dad sometimes-“ they went for walks every once and a whole. “And I liked reading. The classics. Charlotte Bronte, Louisa May Alcott-“ this was true. Regency era- and just period books in general- were her favorite. 

“I see.”

Oralie gave her a smile and a nod. “Did you have any pets?”

Bronte shot Oralie a glare, which prompted Kenric to glare at him on Oralies behalf. “What were your college plans?”

It went on and on. Bronte would ask some absurd question, Kenric or Oralie would try and interrupt, and Sophie would interrupt them with the perfect answer. The only two problems were that one, Bronte didn’t seem impressed at all, and two, Oralie and Kenric were too busy holding hands and doting on eachother to pay any attention to her amazing answers.

“It’s getting late. We should get going, but we’ll let you know what we decide. I’m sure they’ll be no problems,” Kenric said. He took Oralie’s hand, nodded to Alden and to Sophie, and led them out of the room. 

As soon as they were out of the house, everyone breathed a big sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to need to catch their breath after the whole debacle. Alden was the first to talk.

“That went well.”

“It did,” Fitz said, shooting Sophie a movie-star worthy smile. Her heart couldn’t help but flutter as he did. “Want to go for a walk?”

She nodded, and went to go change into something a little more reasonable than her full on ballgown. Once she was done, they waved goodbye to the parents. They were now drinking coffee on the front porch over the setting summer sun. Sophie and Fitz left them behind.

They were both quiet for a little bit. It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t not awkward either, and it made Sophie a little squirmy. 

Fitz must’ve been feeling it too, because he said, “I think you did really well. I know I already said that, but I was impressed. I had no idea you were that… well rounded.”

Sophie laughed. “I stretched the truth. My mom forces me to help make dinner and I went on walks with my dad. But everything else was true.”

“Still, a lot of kids just sit in their rooms and watch tiktok all day, so I’d say you’re doing pretty well. Like if that was my sister? She’d be screwed.”

Sophie raised an eyebrow, a signal for him to continue.

“She pretty much just goes shopping and hangs out with her friends. I think she gets like a solid B, and if my family wasn’t a legacy, I don’t think she would have gotten in.”

“Why not?”

“Foxfire is super prestegious. It’s like the harvard of Highschools.”

Sophie nodded in understanding. “What about you?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, what extra curriculars do you do?”

“Oh. I’m on the football team. And the honors society. And debate, lacrosse, forsenics, latin honor society, and model united nations.”

“Holy crap,” Sophie said, suddenly feeling inadequate. “How do you have time for all of that?”

Fitz shrugged. “It’s all about efficency. I’m only captian of the lacrosse team, so I go to every practice. Football isn’t really my top priorty, so I don’t go to all of the practices, just play with my dad after the games. Biana likes to tease me that I’m not as good as everyone else on the team, but I think that’s a load of you know what, because my dad was the quarterback in his day, and he’s the one that teaches me, so, you know. I’m not that bad off.”

Sophie nodded. “Still, thats like seven clubs. How are you not busy all the time?”

Fitz launched into a really long explination about how some clubs only met some days and he had a tutor that helped with his homework and which clubs really mattered enough for him to put a lot of extra effort into. It didn’t really make sense. He was a junior, he was supposed to be studying for his ACT and SAT, but instead he was busy treasuring the national honor society branch of Foxfire high? Who was this kid?

“And like.. Do you do anything besides school stuff?”

“Uh… I go to all of Biana’s cheer comps. And hang out with Keefe. One time I went on a date with Stina, when I was a freshman, but that did not end well.”

This kid had the most boring, overacheving life. It made Sophie’s old life look like a walk in the park, and seriously inadequite.

It was getting dark, so she suggested they turn around and go inside, seriously considering just saying ‘I’m done, I’ll never be as cool as Fitz.’ 

The next few weeks went by in a flurry. She’d go to some of Fitz’s games, sitting in the back of the stands with Marella while they watched the cheerleaders down below screaming and chanting at them. 

Fitz was right. He definitely wasn’t the best on the team, but he wasn’t the worst either. She considered telling him how good he did after the game, but instead elected to by a Foxfire hoodie and a diet coke for Marella and skiddadle out of there. 

Dex’s chemistry tutoring seemed to be helping her, too. Ms. Galvin was finding less and less wrong with her assignments, and she hadn’t blown anything up since that fateful day, so she considered her C a success. 

It was her only non A plus. It balanced out, leaving her with a gpa of 3.9. It wasn’t what Grady wanted, but it was what she could provide, so it was going to have to be good enough. 

Everything was going just how she planned. Edaline was finally coming out of her shell a little, the school board said that she could finish out the year and then she’d reevaluate. Her friends were funny and they kind of had a ‘squad.’ Fitz said hey to her in the hallways, which got her some major street cred, and dirty looks from Dex, and even though she didn’t understand why they didn’t like each other, she was having a good time. She finally felt normal.

Until gym. Her teachers had announced that they were playing paintball, but a little differnet. 

And Sophie was brilliant at it. Years of her little sister had gotten her really good at throwing things, and she soon found herself in the last two. Against Fitz.

“Alright! We have our last two contestants! Sophie Foster, and Fitz Vacker.”

Dex had warned her that nobody ever beat Fitz in anything, and she was determined to put him in his place. 

They stood facing each other, ready for the teacher to blow the whistle for to go signal. He did, and isntantly they started firing at each other, running around the field. She started to chase after him, but he screamed, and fell over. She ran over to get to him and see what happened, but on her way over, she tripped too. 

The last thing she saw was her teachers confused and panicked faces before she blacked out. 

When she woke up, she was facing looking up at a curly haired man, who was leaning over her, confused. “You’re awake,” he pointed out, and dug on the tray next to her for something. The sound made her head pound. It was loud. 

“Yeah,” she groaned, trying to figure out where she was. There was a stark white ceiling above her with an- oh god, a really, really, bright light. She squinted her eyes shut. 

She was in the nurses office, and the man leaning over her, examining her eyes was Elwin. He grinned at her when she opened her eyes again.

“Can you answer some questions for me?” He asked. 

She nodded, moving shielding her eyes from the light. She flinched when her shoulder sent a sharp pain through her arm. 

“You sublocated your arm. What day is it?”

“Uh….” she has to think for a minute, but it came back to her. “September 24? Wednesday.”

He nodded. “Who is the president?”

She managed to answer all of his questions well, and correctly. For the most part. It wasn’t until she was finally able to shake the headache she got from looking at the light to remember that there was another person in the room. “Where’s Fitz? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He probably has a super mild concussion, like you, but he sprained his ankle as well. He’ll be fine in a few weeks, but no more football for him for the rest of the season.”

Sophie felt her stomach drop. “Oh no. He loves football.”

Elwin shrugged. “I’d imagine he likes being able to walk more. I have a few boots in my storage so I’ll give him one of those and he’ll be okay. Just like you get this!” He pulled out a sling. 

She scrunched her nose. “Do I have to wear that?”

“Just for a few weeks. I want to make sure it doesn’t pop out again. And you can take it off when you sleep.”

She pursed her lips, but let Elwin show her how to put it on anyways. 

A half hearted groan from across the room brought Elwin back to his attention. “Fitz is awake,” he whispered. 

Sophie smiled, and leaned up to see how he was. 

For the most part, he looked fine. His face looked a little bruised in a few places, but just like he was really tough and got into a fight. 

There were less hot things to look like, Sophie had to admit. 

“How are you feeling?” She heard Elwin ask from across the room. 

“Okay. I’ve been better. Is Sophie okay? Where is she?” Fitz sat up to see her, and she sheepishly waved at him. 

“Hi. Sorry.”

He shrugged. “Figure I deserve it; if I can be knocked over by a throw.”

Elwin smiled, and finished getting Fitz set up with his boot. “I’ll call your parents, if you two want to sit in those chairs. I don’t see any reason why you should have to go back to school now.”

He went back into a secluded area, and Sophie and Fitz both sat awkwardly. Fitz ended up breaking the silence. “How come I never see you and Biana hanging out?”

She shrugged, not wanting to tell him that his sister was a major pain in the butt. “We just don’t run in the same circle.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t usually either, and I like to think that we’re friends,” he pointed out. 

“Yeah. I guess.”

A beat passed, and he finally said, “Well, you would probably get along if you tried. You seem really similar.”

Sophie gave him a half hearted smile. They were both quiet for a little bit, and Fitz took out his phone to send pictures of his boot to his friends. (He had her take the picture). 

Finally, Grady showed up to pick her up, and raised his eyebrow when he saw Sophie’s arm in a sling and Fitz’s foot. “You just can’t seem to stay out of trouble, can you?” He asked, and Elwin snorted. 

“Something tells me it’s only going to get more interesting with those two.”

Grady rolled his eyes, smiling at them. “Let’s get you home, kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update- April 24

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. Comments + kudos are very appreciated. I’m already writing chapter 2, and I hope to have it up by Saturday (April 18)but no promises. I don’t have a writing schedule or anything (cringe, I know). Hope to see you soon!


End file.
